Published 24 January 2020
Buckie Got It. St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
DEPARTMENT OF GENDER AFFAIRS ASSISTS FEMALE EX-INMATES WITH SMOOTH TRANSITION BACK INTO SOCIETY
Basseterre, St. Kitts, January 24, 2020 (SKNIS): Celia Christopher, Director of Department of Gender Affairs, said that her institution continues to work closely with female ex-inmates so that they can resume productive lives after leaving prison.
“You cannot expect to have a peaceful society if you do not want to be a part of the reform of the very people who affect society. And so, when females are getting ready to be released we will work with them and we have been very successful in finding them jobs,” said Mrs. Christopher on Wednesday’s (January 22) edition of “Working for You”, noting that “if they go out and they are not working they are going to revert to what they were doing because they are going to have to survive.”
The director noted that most single-parent households are led by women, therefore, it is critically important to empower them.
“When a woman is taken out of the family… the whole family unit breaks down, so we have to try and keep them together,” she said. “And we also work on their self-esteem because we have a very unforgiving society, so we make sure we strengthen them with personal development, and we work with them.”
Mrs. Christopher said that the children who form part of these families also receive assistance.
“In terms of the children of these parents, they become part of the social assistance programme, so they can go there, get their school uniforms, vouchers and whatever is due to them. They become part of the system because they are coming from vulnerable homes which fall under our responsibility,” she stated.
Director Christopher used the occasion to express heartfelt thanks and appreciation to members of the corporate society “who are very considerate” and have been working with the Department of Gender Affairs.
